Careers in Law Evening

Last Monday the careers department hosted a Careers in Law evening. A huge thank you to parents, Miss Victoria Francis and Mr Damian Bisseker, who offered some excellent advice and guidance on the roles of a Barrister and Solicitor respectively, as well as Old Caterhamian Alannah Hoban who walked us through studying law at university.

Alannah encouraged potential law pupils to research their courses to make sure they understand the options open to them. She originally applied to the University of Sussex to study Law and Spanish but when she began her studies it became clear that many of the law options she was interested in, were not available if she was taking Spanish. Thankfully she was able to change to straight law. She also emphasised how important it was to visit universities before you apply as they can be so different in reality, to the picture painted on their websites – she explained how she know Sussex was the right place for her when she attended their open day. During this visit she was able to ascertain that the student support network was first class and that their assessments were based more on coursework than exams – something she always found very stressful. Sussex also used this opportunity to showcase their specific law facilities – demonstrating their mock court room, pro-bono clinics and advocacy programmes.

She also talked about the need for resilience and tenacity and how pupils should not underestimate the jump from school to university. She failed her first exam and was very disappointed with the result, yet she persevered and this summer, she graduated with the highest mark in her cohort and has just begun her Masters in Intellectual Property and IT! Well done and good luck Alannah!